CONSERVATIVE candidates spent more than twice as much as their Labour counterparts campaigning for Flintshire residents’ votes in the run-up to the General Election, figures have revealed.

Tory candidate for Alyn and Deeside Will Gallagher spent £12,407.73 while Antoinette Sandbach, who stood as the Conservative candidate for Delyn in the May, spent £29,456.54 – the second highest amount of any candidate in Wales.

Legal aid barrister Ms Sandbach lost out on polling day and received 12,811 votes, compared to Labour David Hanson’s 15,083 votes.

Mr Gallagher came second to Mark Tami in the Alyn and Deeside constituency.

The new figures released by the Electoral Commission show Mr Hanson spent £8,811.39 and Mr Tami £9,382.10 on their respective election campaigns – a total of £18,193.49 compared to the outlay of £41,864.27 by the Tories.

The Electoral Commission report published online shows the amount each candidate spent campaigning in their constituency in the run-up to the elections last May.

Mr Tami said: “I knew at the time of the election that Tory candidates were out-spending the rest of us, but it has come as a surprise just how much they threw at the Flintshire seats.

“Between Delyn and Alyn and Deeside, the Tories spent more than double what Labour spent.

“I don’t know whether the Tory funding came from their tax exile millionaire, Lord Ashcroft, but it is very commendable that the people of Flintshire did not succumb to the Conservative’s attempts to buy the election.”